The Road to Broad

This is why you should be excited about Dallas Schools and Lee's march to the forefront.


Michael Hinojosa: A district transformed

I'm willing to put in on the line, says Michael Hinojosa, Superintendent says DISD will win this urban prize by 2010.

10:23 AM CST on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 from Dallas Morning News

"And the nominees are ..."

The worldwide media will buzz next week when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the nominees for the 79th annual Academy Awards. But who will take note in April, when the Broad Foundation, located just blocks away on L.A.'s glittering Wilshire Boulevard, reveals the finalists for the 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education?

We will, here at the Dallas Independent School District – because we are determined that, no later than 2010, Dallas ISD will be one of the five districts on that list. The $1 million Broad (rhymes with "road") Prize recognizes the urban school district that, of all the districts in America, has made the greatest strides toward providing every single child a superb education – exactly what we at Dallas ISD are committed to do. That commitment dates back to November 2005, when the board of trustees joined me in defining that ambitious goal.

We are not alone in that commitment. A remarkable coalition of 65 leaders from throughout Dallas has come together as the Dallas Achieves Commission to help us transform Dallas ISD using successful districts such as the Broad Prize finalists as models. Today, we will publicly unveil a new catchphrase to describe the transformation process: "The Road to Broad."

A rhyming slogan is nice, but it won't get the job done. Dallas ISD is blessed to have the talents of thousands of dedicated educators. Our students are bright and ambitious. Their families want them to achieve their dreams. Voters have given us the resources to build first-class facilities. But still too many children fail to graduate or, if they graduate, fail to have the skills they need to succeed in college or at a good job.

That can mean only one thing: In some critical ways, the system itself is broken. So Dallas ISD has done what major corporations that are in trouble do – with the help of generous donors to Dallas Achieves, we have partnered with some of the nation's most respected strategic consultants, including The Boston Consulting Group and the Public Strategies Group. They are analyzing every aspect of our operation, using best practices and data-driven research to form the roadmap for transformation.

Already, based on the consultants' research, we are implementing reforms to central office operations that should save us as much as $20 million a year. In April, the consultant team will present Phase II of their recommendations to the Dallas Achieves Commission and then to me and the trustees.

Those recommendations will enshrine a new academic rigor – raising benchmarks to the level required to equip every student for college and a career (for instance, making "commended" rather than "passing" performance on the TAKS the baseline measure of college readiness). Teachers will be supported to ensure that students are meeting the tougher benchmarks, and principals will be accountable for making sure their teachers have the skills and the resources to do so.

Central administration will be accountable for serving the schools (rather than the other way around) and for putting the money where it will produce academic gains. Engaged parents and the larger community will be called on to participate, supporting and challenging all of us along the way.

If you don't think we're serious, consider the assessment of the National Center for Educational Accountability, which reviewed Dallas ISD's curriculum and proposed significant changes a year ago. When they came back recently to assess our progress, they said they had never seen a district accomplish so much so quickly.

Publicly declaring that we are on the Road to Broad carries a risk. The trustees and I are willing to take that risk because we believe in our students, our families, our teachers, our administrators and you – the people of Dallas. We do not intend to fail.

Dr. Michael Hinojosa is general superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District. His e-mail address is suptresponse@dallasisd.org.